title: New taxa and revisionary systematics of alcyonacean octocorals from the Pacific coast of North America (Cnidaria, Anthozoa).
abstract: A taxonomic assessment of four species of octocorals from the northeastern Pacific Ocean (British Columbia to California) is provided. Included here are a new species of clavulariid stolonifieran Cryptophyton, a new species of the nephtheid soft coral Gersemia, an undetermined species of soft coral in the genus Alcyonium that has been referred in the literature by several other names, and a new genus is named for a plexaurid sea fan originally described in the Indo-Pacific genus Euplexaura. Discussions are included that compare the species to related taxa, or provide revisionary assessments.
authors.affiliation: Department of Invertebrate Zoology and Geology, California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse Drive, San Francisco, California, 94118, USA.
authors.forename: Gary C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Williams
keywords: Alcyonium; Cryptophyton; Gersemia; Octocorallia; northeastern Pacific; plexaurid gorgonian; soft corals; taxonomy